A hundred drabbles: Sheik and Link
by Rieka De-Volka
Summary: To answer my claim at the Drabble100 Community at LJ. A hundred drabbles on Link and Sheik. Check the table of prompts in the LJ noted at my profile.
1. Breakfast

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Break Time.  
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
Characters: Sheik, Link.  
Drabble Number: 001.  
Prompt Number: 56.  
Prompt Word: Breakfast.  
Rating: PG-13.  
Gerne: Drama/General.  
Quote: _"No rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned."_ Jean Paul (German novelist and humo1763-1825) rist.  
Word Count: 319.  
Notes: This was inspired by a beautiful drawing by Wyna Hiros, which you can find here: http: (double slash) wyna-hiros. livejournal. com (slash) 269193 . html. The first two lines come from there too. Enjoy!

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**Break Time.**

Sheik measures his time in sunrises and sunsets. He figures if he can make another sunrise, then he's done something right. He admires each sunrise as if it were the first, and waits each sunset as if it were the last.

Link measures his time with wounds and scars. He figures if his wounds can become scars, then he's done something right. He tends every wound as if it were the first, and hopes each scar will be the last.

Sheik lives waiting an attack. Between sunrise and sunset, with a dagger at hand, he hides from sunlight, scraping whatever the land might give to feed him, and searching the nesting grounds for Ganondorf's minions. Between sunset and sunrise, he travels the land, avoiding Poes and giving reports back to the Princess.

Link lives nursing an injury. Between the wound and the scar it'll become, he limps around helping the survivors, sleeping in hay and listening to Navi fret. Between the scar and the next wound, he runs around trying to solve a puzzle or purge out a temple, expecting to find either the Sheikah, a Sage or the Princess.

Sheik remembers the last time he was home. When sunrise caught him playing warrior with his brother, and sunset guided him back to his mother's embrace. He remebers the scent of home, a mix of burning wood, sand, sweat and cooking meat. As he eats what little he has this sunrise, he wonders if he will ever go back.

Link remembers the last time he was home. When a slight wound would make him want to cry and ask Saria to tend it, and a scar would leave others awed and Mido seething jealously. He remembers the scent of home, a mix of forest wildness, oak and clear water. As he tries to eat without upsetting his injured shoulder, he wonders if he should ever go back.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	2. Life

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: It Goes On.  
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
Characters: Sheik, Link.  
Drabble Number: 002.  
Prompt Number: 087.  
Prompt Word: Life.  
Rating: PG-13.  
Gerne: Drama/Angst.  
Quote: "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on." Robert Frost (1875-1963) American Poet.  
Word Count: 303.  
Notes: Inspired by the sheer delight that was reading "Cien Años de Soledad" by Garcia Marquez again. Dedicated to Jadedsilk for her awesome work as a beta reader ;) Love you lots.

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**It Goes On.**

To Sheik, time is pointless. Or rather, the measuring of time is. What does it matter how long it's been since the last time he was home? He still remembers what it felt like. What does it matter how long the days feel? Night will always fall once they're over. What does it matter how long it takes him to go see the Princess in her secret hide out? He will repeat the journey as many times at it's necessary.

No, for Sheik, the truly important things are events, not what happens in between.

It's important to meet the Princess, not that he was almost killed on his way there. It's important he saves Ruto, not that he almost lost a finger while doing so. It's important no one knows who or where he is, not that he feels lonely every now and then.

But everything changes when the Hero arrives.

Because the Hero lives every moment, every second as if it were the last. He struggles and laughs and cries, and he's _alive_. Not just in the important events, like the fight with the Temple Bosses or when a Sage awakens... but also in between, when he's talking with a survivor, or going through a small side quest to help someone else.

Sheik wonders, just how long will the Hero stand to live like that... how long it'll take him to understand. How for every life he mends, the Evil King shatters a dozen. How for every scar he gains, a hundred more await him. But the Hero never falters, and the Sheikah keeps watching him, wondering and hoping. Hoping ferverently the Hero will not fall, will prove him wrong.

Prove him everything he does is not pointless, like time, show him life doesn't just go on like that.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	3. She

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: She Was There.  
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
Characters: Sheik, Link.  
Drabble Number: 003.  
Prompt Number: 089.  
Prompt Word: She.  
Rating: R.  
Gerne: Angst.  
Quote: "For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love. " Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British statesman and philosopher.  
Word Count: 294.  
Notes: Inspired by a line in "Nocturno a Rosario" by Manuel Acuña. Don't ask why, my mind works in strange ways. Dedicated to Jadedsilk for her awesome work as a beta reader ;) Love you lots.

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**She Was There.**

Link understood that sacrifices were necessary for the sake of the greater good. He knew his own feelings needed to be discarded, so that things could go well. He knew Zelda had had to hide, that Sheik was the only one around strong enough to hide her.

He knew his lover understood the need of sacrifice as well.

She was there.

It started with the small things. A fleeting instant when the red eyes were blue, when the chin would be tilted in a particularly womanly way, a slight change in his walk. Link saw it, understood it but _accepted_ it. Because sacrifices were needed for the war.

But then, the nagging doubt wouldn't leave him alone. When Sheik touched him, was it him or was it her that did it? When he smiled and said 'I love you', who was really saying it? When he kissed him back and replied "I love you too", who was he looking at? When he was arching his back and calling his name, which voice was really meaning it?

She was there.

Link wasn't sure anymore. Every day, he and she mixed a bit more, losing the individuality and becoming a solid _'they'_. Every day, it got harder for Link to look at them, to wake up beside them, to make love to them. Every day, Link wished the nightmare would end, the Evil King would die and his life would go back to what it was supposed to be. To He and Him and no one else.

But she was _there_. Looming like a shadow between them, threatening but never quite swallowing them up, just there.

She was there. Always. And Link didn't know if he loved her or him or them anymore.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	4. Death

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Unravel.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 004.

Prompt Number: 030.

Prompt Word: Death.

Rating: R.

Gerne: Angst.

Quote: "Everyone walks a weary path. Yours is destinied to unravel into threads and who knows where those threads will lead? " Extract from Novel Project.

Word Count: 405.

Notes: I was working on one of my novels, and during the dialogue, a Seer poses a trick question to the Hero. When he answers, the Seer replies with the above quote. I suddenly stopped and decided it would made a lovely drabble. Dedicated to Jadedsilk for her awesome work as a beta reader ;) Love you lots.

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**Unravel.**

He died. During one of those stupidly heroic deeds he simply lived for. He died for what he lived, so Sheik knew he should let his memory to rest.

But he can't, because he's gone.

He knew he would outlive him. Sheikah always outlived Hylians. It was just the way things went, something he couldn't fight, something he had to accept. Something he had known ever since the Hero had woven the first thread around him. Ever since he had woven one back.

Leave, he had told himself, leave now, before it's all too late.

But he hadn't listened, and he had died. Sheik was acutely reminded that simply because he knew, it didn't mean it wouldn't hurt.

Everywhere he went, he was reminded of him. Of his silly quests and his brave adventures, the tales from other worlds and the late night talks. It was as if everything around him wore his name in some way, becoming a painful reminder of things that, if Sheik were truly honest, he didn't really want to forget. He wanted to remember forever, because if he didn't... if he didn't then Link would be truly and irrevocably dead.

Every word, every look and every smile, they had woven a string that held them together, side by side. Little things, insignificant things that Sheik would have killed for now that he was gone. Like that stupid grin every time he killed something squishy and it exploded. Or the soft whimper when Poes appeared. Or that lost look when they were cooling down amidst soiled sheets.

It was ludicrous to stay back after he died, but he did anyway. Lurking around the hallways of the castle, mute to the world, miserable beyond words, but loyal. Loyal to the cause, now that there was no one else to be loyal to. The Princess had laid the Master Sword back to rest, sealed again as it had been the first time and Epona had become so wild Malon had had to let her free in the field, because she wouldn't listen to anyone anymore. Sheik felt a strange sympathy for the mare.

In the end, that string, that rope that held them together, which had been tenderly woven bit by bit... it was destined to unravel into threads and disappear into the murky lands of memory, leaving only broken and miserable shards of a heart that would never be whole again.

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	5. Shattered

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Shattered Reflection.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 005.

Prompt Number: 075.

Prompt Word: Shattered.

Rating: R.

Gerne: Angst.

Quote: "God had given you one face, and you make yourself another." William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet and playwright.

Word Count: 487.

Notes: Mm, a darker version of Sheik, done purely out of whim ;) I like the Princess, honest, but I couldn't resist. Though at first it seems Zelda-centric, look closely, it's just her standing in between something she doesn't understand. Obsession. Also, I need to write something more light hearted. Maybe tomorrow XD

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**Shattered Reflection.**

Sunflowers always bloomed on her birthday. They had said it was a good omen, and she had grown surrounded by them. She had her mother's beautiful hair and her father's deep eyes and everyone agreed she would become one fine lady, thus, her maids had decorated her room with mirrors of all sizes. Her even features reflected in the polished surfaces, and she watched herself grow, since she was a baby until she was ten.

When she was ten, all the mirrors in her room were shattered and her maids had been killed. Only one of them remained, the oldest and wisest one. The Sheikah. The Princess had always been awed by the aura of muted power that hung around her attendant, how without being pretty... at least not in the same way the Princess was, the fierce woman commanded respect and had gained the good will of everyone she met. She took the Princess away when they couldn't wait for the Hero anymore, that lovely boy with features much like her own and a small bouncing fairy following behind.

And then... she went to sleep.

It wasn't like sleeping in the castle, safe among her cocoon of warmth, with the pale moon reflecting her rays on her mirrors. Rather, she saw herself reflected upon the mind of another. Someone much stronger, wiser... Sheikah. She remained sleeping for many years, dreaming reality as whoever was embracing her lived for her. One day, there was a tugging in her mind, something familiar, and she saw him in her dream. But she was too asleep to greet him, and her protector did instead.

Her protector did many thing she wished to do, like talking or fighting or running or bathing or touching or kissing or loving.

And when her protector loved the Hero, when she sensed but couldn't quite feel it, she realized she was trapped. Caged deep inside a mind that wasn't her own. And she struggled, tried her hardest to get out, to get control, to reclaim what was rightfully hers.

She did, eventually, but what was hers was not what she wanted. And what she wanted was his.

A hundred and one lifetimes later, she was ten again. And as she lay in her bed, resting among the warm sheets and her beloved mirrors... she saw him behind them. Angry and disappointed and callous towards her. Because she had banished him away, to a place he would never be able to leave.

The whole castle awoke when she broke the mirrors, screaming in frustration as the mocking shadow would not leave. A lifetime away from her, the Hero awoke, a chill settled deep into his bones.

"Sheik?" He called out into the night, but silence was his only answer.

In the Princess' chambers, while she sat and cried and begged him to just leave. The wicked red eyes flashed behind the shattered mirror, promising.

_Link._

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_(A/N) Review!_


	6. Red

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Red.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 006.

Prompt Number: 011.

Prompt Word: Red.

Rating: R.

Gerne: Angst.

Quote: "I don't want to be dead but all beautiful colors bleed to red." Anonymus

Word Count: 115.

Notes: Eh. Yes. Red. Enjoy?

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**Red.**

Red is such a nice color, Link has never taken the time to realize this, but he finally does, and he's content.

Red is bright and cheerful when it tops the white houses at Kakariko.

Red is lustful and welcoming when it lights up the depth of Sheik's eyes.

Red is powerful and scorching when he stands inside Death Mountain Crater.

Red is draining and soothing when it drags the blood out of his veins.

Link doesn't really want to die. He knows there are important things to be done, places to visit, people to meet, favors to do, smiles to give. But as he lays there, he dearly hopes he'll bleed to Red.

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	7. Grey

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Grey Days.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 007.

Prompt Number: 012.

Prompt Word: Grey.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: General.

Quote: "Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death." Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Swiss political philosopher, educationist and essayist.

Word Count: 326.

Notes: Grey. Grey's cool. Depressing, but cool. Heh. Depressingly cool. XD Enjoy!

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**Grey Days.**

Ever since he woke up, he knew it was going to be _'one of those days'_. Link wasn't a morning person, per se, but Navi and Sheik made him so. If he could have his way, he would spend all morning snuggled on a bed - a real bed, not a rumpled sheet on the hard ground or a handful of hay - and not go out until noon. Of course if Link had his way, he would be ten again, living in a tree house and worrying only with expecting a fairy to come his way and a good prank to get even with Mido.

But Link rarely got his way, aside from the rare occasion the Triad smiled on him and Sheik was in a less tense than usual mood. Because Sheik never truly relaxed, so Link worked with what he could.

But that day, oh, that day Link knew he should have stayed in bed.

Kakariko was always grey. When he visited as a kid, people always complained about how the Market was bigger and more prosperous than them. When he visited as an adult, everyone complained about the war and the Dark King. In Kakariko there was a well of shadows, grey shadows. In Kakariko there was a graveyard with ghosts, grey ghosts.

In Kakariko, there was the entrance to a Temple dedicated to Grey.

The Sheikah were grey people. In their coloring, their moods, their rituals, their language, their movements. He would know, he was quite close and personal with one.

The Shadow Temple was grey, full of death and shadows and monsters and fear.

But as Link crawled back to Impa's house, where he took refuge for the night, he decided he actually liked grey.

Ganondorf was black. Zelda was white. But Sheik, with his hooded eyes and defensive nature, Sheik was Grey.

And for that, Link was prepared to go through one and a thousand grey days.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	8. White

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Frozen White.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 008.

Prompt Number: 013.

Prompt Word: White.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: General.

Quote: "I don't like these cold, precise, perfect people who, in order not to speak wrong, never speak at all, and in order not to do wrong, never do anything." Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American politician.

Word Count: 439.

Notes: The obligatory Ice Cavern scene. Just not as everyone does it. XD

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**Frozen White.**

It's terribly annoying, Link concludes as he removes his sword from the carcass of the fallen Wolfos, to be cold, and he's still damp from his trek to reach the cave and further cooled down by the blue fire hidden in bottles in his belt.

He supposes he's starting to develop an aversion to white, ice and water in general, and he has the sinking feeling it won't be the last time he gets soaked for the sake of Hyrule, the Princess and whatnot.

Yes, Link thinks as he squeezes the last of the icy water from his hat, the whole adventure thing was going relatively well until he stumbled upon the Ice Cave. Artic wind, Navi had said, when he had wanted to scream it was most certainly not just an artic wind.

And then, Sheik is there. Standing at a distance, always too close and so far away at the same time. Link knows he and Sheik fight the same war, against the same enemy, but it's really grating to his nerves to see that apparently he's the only one doing dirty job. Sheik is always there with a song for him, guiding him into the temples, but while he's getting himself killed by Ganondorf minions, where the hell is the Sheikah survivor? What does he do while Link deals with life threatening situations morning, noon and night?

He's talking about the Zoras and the frozen domain. As if Link couldn't see things were _not_ right with his own eyes. He has this little pang of resentment, wanting to scream, _"I know! I just got frozen a few times, you know?"_ But he won't of course, because it would not be polite, and Navi always frets when he's anything less than polite and well mannered.

Now he's teaching him a song to the Water Temple, and he takes out his harp. Link watches distractedly as the elegant fingers trail the strings, how the pleasant notes echoed in the emptiness of ice. He looks at Sheik and his pristine white clothes, not marred by dirt or blood or torn from battles, like Link's tunics are. They are well kept, and look clean.

Sheik, Link decides, is as frozen as the cavern he's standing in. Cool, controlled, but so empty. He fights a war from far away, not getting involved directly into the fight. He's white, not because he's light, quite the opposite in fact... but rather, he's white, because he remains untouched. A member of the audience or a quiet advisor, rather than a fierce warrior.

He's frozen white... and Link silently hates him for it.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	9. Black

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Tomorrow.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 009.

Prompt Number: 014.

Prompt Word: Black.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Angst.

Quote: "The future is... black." James Baldwin (1924-1987) African-American writer.

Word Count: 268.

Notes: Because black can be the greatest comfort. Enjoy.

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**Tomorrow.**

It's been long since he's stopped counting the days. He no longer cares it's been a month or a year... he feels it was a century and yet another century to come.

Sheik was careless. Far too careless and far too confident.

Link had gotten him drunk in a sense of security that Ganondorf was all too glad to break.

He lives in the darkness, the colorless darkness where everything is black. He cannot see, because no light is allowed to where he is, only the mocking laughter from time to time, when the King of Evil is too bored with everything else. Then, he comes to see him, mocking him, laughing at his misery as he tells him lie after lie.

Because the Evil King cannot tell the truth. What he says, can_not_ be true.

Link and the Princess and Kakariko and Impa. They're _alive_. They're strong and plotting and rebelling and whatever Ganondorf has planned, it will be eventually defeated, because Good always defeats Evil. Because they would never give up on the fight, they would never stop trying.

Link would never give up looking for him.

So Ganondorf can tell him all the lies he wants, Sheik will simply curl on the darkness, making warmth out of the black and waiting. Because surely, surely Link will come and rescue him, he will defeat Ganondorf and then Sheik will laugh and tell him that all was lies.

Link doesn't come today. But Sheik doesn't despair, that's what Ganondorf wants, and he sits in his black hole, waiting.

If not today, tomorrow... tomorrow Link would come.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	10. Blue

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Cloudless Sky.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 010.

Prompt Number: 015.

Prompt Word: Blue.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Romance.

Quote: "In this fine day, with you by my side, I can almost forget the world we live in." Anonymus.

Word Count: 206.

Notes: A bit of mush. I can write it, it doesn't mean, however, that I like it. XD

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**Cloudless Sky.**

The day was perfect and the company even better. Lake Hylia was peaceful, since Link had beaten the monster within the Water Temple, the lake had recovered its previous beauty, and it simply looked breathtaking from where they were resting. The grass was lush and green, welcoming them as they laid back, watching the sky. And what sky, cloudless, as perfect as the day Nayru created it.

As blue and clear as the water in the lake, rolling gently at the shore.

As blue and deep as Link's eyes, glinting with quiet emotions that needed no words.

It was a day for rest, to taste the sun a bit and enjoy the small pleasures of life. To listen to Link playing random songs on his Ocarina, to sometimes join along. To fish for a while, enjoying the thrill of the small fight, to enjoy a laugh when either of them fell into the pond.

It was a lovely day. A day good enough to forget there was Evil the world, that there were still temples to purge, a Kingdom to save.

As the sun sank in the distance, painting the sky golden, Sheik looked at Link, and realized it was a day for confessions too.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	11. Purple

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Bruised Sky.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 011.

Prompt Number: 016.

Prompt Word: Purple.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Romance.

Quote: "I was there so long ago/the sky was bruised/the wine was bled/and there you led me on." From "Like A Stone" by Audioslave.

Word Count: 175

Notes: If you've ever seen a bruised sky, you know what I'm talking about.

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**Bruised Sky.**

Link was a Child of Nature. Sheik had watched ever since he came out of the temple, and he could safely assure he was.

When he was happy, he smiled the same way the sun smiled over the land in early Spring.

When he was sad, his eyes were the same dark grey as snow clouds in full Winter.

When he was angry, his voice echoed like a thunder from a Summer storm.

When he was peaceful, his hands were gentle, like a shy breeze in Autumn.

But when he was looking at him, when his eyes fixed in his own, Sheik saw so much there. Much more than Spring and Winter and Summer and Autumn. He saw the chaotic waves of the ocean crashing upon each other. The sky at dusk, deep and purple and unending. Link's eyes grew dark when they quietly promised the forbidden, when hands brushed against his skin, when ghostly lips whispered kisses to his lips.

Within Link's eyes, he saw, felt, heard and tasted the bruised sky.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	12. Brown

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Rust.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 012.

Prompt Number: 017.

Prompt Word: Brown.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Angst.

Quote: "I cannot be, until you're resting here with me." From "Here With Me" by Dido.

Word Count: 269

Notes: Because I have this fixation with Sheik denying Link's dead.

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**Rust.**

It's a mechanical thing to do, sharpen and polish, sharpen and polish, but it keeps his hands occupied and his mind free to wander.

Sheik learned early on that Impa disliked idle hands. They had a tendency to cause harm, to himself and to others, so he never allowed them to be still.

Besides, there was so much to do around. Taking care of Epona, clean around a bit, polish his blades, clean and polish His sword, prepare meals, help around the village.

After all, he had to keep things running smoothly for when He came back.

Zelda had come once or twice to ask him for the Master Sword... but he couldn't give it to her, not until He said it was fine. Not until He came back.

Sheik hates the rust that keeps gathering in the Sword. It's a brown crust that he can't remove no matter how hard he tries, and it's slowly driving him insane as he can swear it grows more and more each day.

He frets and throws a tantrum when something inside their small house is moved, by Impa or someone else. He doesn't want anything to change, to be different.

Sheik wants, _needs_ everything to be exactly as it was the day He left, so that when He comes back, He recognizes everything.

Because He has to come back.

And everyday, without fault, Sheik will torn his fingers raw, trying to get rid of the lying, stupid brown crust on the blade, tainting it red with his blood as he keeps scrubbing, sharpening.

But rust never goes, rust never lies.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	13. Green

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Freedom.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 013.

Prompt Number: 018.

Prompt Word: Green.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: General.

Quote: "There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail." Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American philosopher and author.

Word Count: 117.

Notes: No one ever takes the time to think about defeat, about the freedom it entitles.

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**Freedom.**

It's a strange feeling. Falling but not, cold but warm, lonely but home.

He knows he should be afraid, because this is wrong, so wrong, but he doesn't care. He's fine, he feels fine.

He sits in a lush green field, and the breeze whispers soothingly against the tree branches and everything is perfectly peaceful.

He know something is missing, but for a moment he doesn't care. In that fleeting moment, he allowed himself to be selfish, to want for himself, to forsake his duty and just wish.

Sheik was waiting for him, he knew he was, but here, here it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered in the lush green grass where he could finally be free.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	14. Pink

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: The Wedding.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 014.

Prompt Number: 019.

Prompt Word: Pink.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Humor.

Quote: "I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance; a church filled with flowers and friends. I asked him what kind of wedding he wished for; he said one that would make me his wife." Anonymus.

Word Count: 192.

Notes: A bit of humor to lighten up the mood. Anyone aside me thinks wedding traditions are just insane?

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**The Wedding.**

"No," Sheik said, glaring at the offensive cloth through narrowed eyes, "It's ludicrous, and besides," He snorted, "Pink does not suit my eyes."

Link made that kicked puppy sound in the back of his throat, the one that was sure to make the Sheikah cringe with guilt, then turned back to Zelda, questioning. The Princess frowned.

"It's tradition, Sheik," She explained easily, her voice soft and encouraging. Considering she was paying for most of the madness, the Sheikah was impressed, "Something broken, something taken and something pink."

"Tradition can go-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'll wash your mouth with soap," Impa scolded testily, patience heavily strained by the whole affair, "Pick a Triad damned ribbon and tie it to your wrist."

Sheik sulked. Zelda browsed through the clothes excitedly. Link looked doubtfully at his own tunics. Impa wished she could die.

"Marrying you better be worth this mess," Sheik muttered to Link as he pretended to be interested in the blue tunic in his hands, "Pink of all colors. And what else?"

But he reluctantly reached out for a thin, pale pink ribbon, and glared darkly as Link smiled.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	15. Colorless

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Hourglass.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 015.

Prompt Number: 020.

Prompt Word: Colourless.

Rating: PG-13.

Gerne: Drama.

Quote: "Life is a little gleam of time between two eternities." Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) British historian and essayist.

Word Count: 326.

Notes: This one is strange. Really, really strange.

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**Hourglass.**

The first time they meet, they fall in love. The Hero is shy and the Shadow dares. They built a story together, forging bonds that will melt with the first rays of dawn. Then the Shadow dies, and the Hero sits back to wait, not noticing his eyes have begun to lose their color.

The next time they meet, the Shadow's eyes are amber, not red, and the Hero kills him, because he cannot stand the imperfect copy. The Hero's skin turns ghostly pale, all color fleeing as the slack body hit the dirt.

A decade later, the Hero finds him again, young and innocent, but when he approaches, he screams, and the Hero kills him helplessly. His Shadow was not a coward. Now his cloths are colorless, embracing him with a ghostly appearance.

Half a century, and the Shadow finds the Hero instead, but now he's arrogant and over confident, and the Hero kills him with ease. No one would mar the memory of his beloved, not even his beloved himself. His tears wash away the blood coloring his tunic, and he slips back into his solicitude, waiting.

When they meet again, the Shadow is hyper, too light, too bright and the Hero kills him brutally. Shadow falls upon the Hero, brutally, but even that cannot bring color to him.

Well past a hundred years after the first time they met, Hero and Shadow face each other again. For a fleeting instant, the Hero thinks it's him, but then he notices the hair is darker, leaning heavily into brown. For a moment, before the blade sinks into his body, the Shadow realizes, remembers.

"Why Link?" It breaths as blood drains color from the tired features.

"Because you didn't get it right," Colorless eyes stare down emotionlessly, "I'll wait until you get it right."

And he will, for as long as the Thrice Damned mark adorns his hand and time ignores him. He will wait.

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	16. Beginnings

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Genesis.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 016.

Prompt Number: 001.

Prompt Word: Beginnings.

Rating: PG.

Gerne: General.

Quote: "Begin, be bold and venture to be wise." Horace (BC 65-8) Latin lyric poet.

Word Count: 422.

Notes: Another obligatory scene, The First Meeting, but not as you would expect.

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**Genesis.**

I have been waiting for you. Not for seven, or ten, or seventeen years. I have been waiting eternity to meet you. I have been waiting since you died and your hair was white, since your eyes were green, not blue, since your voice was fading and your soul departing.

I have been waiting for you.

I watched you while you were a child, under the amused eyes of a tree as ancient as I am. I watched you run across the fields and into the unknown. I watched you accept a quest because you figured it was the right thing to do. That made me smile, because you always do, you always choose the harder path, the path of rightfulness.

I love you because you do.

I watched you fall asleep, watched as you were deceived. I watched, but did not interfered, because that was part of the bargain, the trade I had done so many lifetimes ago. To be able to meet you, as long as I do not disrupt the flow of time. They call it destiny.

She wants you to be King, has told me so many times. Hidden away from harm, she dreams of you at her side, becoming her King as she becomes your Queen. I smile when I hear her, because she doesn't know, as she didn't know the chaos she would bring upon the land with her good intentions.

I have been waiting for you.

You are as I remember you, perhaps your hair is longer and your nose a bit more hooked than last time, but it is you, and I know. The eyes remain the same, even when they change color every time.

"I am Sheik, Survivor of the Sheikah."

You turn, surprised to find someone friendly amidst the endless darkness that has befallen your world. Under my mask, where you cannot see, I smile when you try to figure out what to answer.

"When you stand before me, holding the Master Sword, I truly believe you are Link, Hero of Time."

And then you do something so unpredictable, it screams at me it really is you.

You smile.

And as time stands still for a moment, we smile at each other, and I see the flicker of recognition there. It will be gone soon, as that too was part of the bargain. But I don't care if I have to start all over again every time.

I have been waiting for you, and I know this is the beginning of another lifetime with you.

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_(A/N) Review!_


	17. Middles

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: The Water Temple.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 017.

Prompt Number: 002.

Prompt Word: Middles.

Rating: PG.

Gerne: Humor.

Quote: "The middle is what makes a sandwich interesting." Dark Star, occationally my lover, occationally my stalker, and a general annoyance.

Word Count: 281.

Notes: I'm having fun with the cliches, this time, The Water Temple. Inspired, once more, by WynaHiros and her awesome art. Look for "Sprawl", it's just... inspiring. Yes, let's leave it at that. XD

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**The Water Temple.**

It was the middle of the quest, the middle of the temple, the middle of a considerably hard fight, the middle of one of Navi's rants.

Quite possibly, with that whole Hero lifestyle and all, the middle of his life as well.

Link looked at Sheik through his bangs, not wanting to meet his eyes. Sheik glared back. If the bothersome white collar wasn't in his way, Link was sure he would be receiving a snarl as well.

"Er..."

". . ."

"Sorry?" Giving a step back as the Sheikah picked himself from the wet floor, Link repressed the urge to flinch as the red eyes fixed on him. If Ganondorf never killed him, Sheik would, eventually.

"I came to warn you about the Shadow," Distastefully cleaning a bit of white goo off his chest, the Sheikah looked rather disgruntled, "It seems, however, that you figured it out all by yourself."

"There's, um," Link rubbed his nose nervously, "You know, some on your shoulder too."

Sheik ignored him.

"I will leave you to your fight then."

There was a flash of a Deku nut and then the blond Sheikah was gone.

"Link," Navi floated around him, though at a bit more distance than usual, making Link quite conscious of the fact Dark Link's innards stank, "I think he's angry."

"If someone kinda, almost beheaded me then threw me into the remains of a squishy white shadowy thing, I'd be angry too, even if it was by accident."

Uncorking a bottle, he drank a red potion and sighed as he felt his wounds closing. Navi hovered around as the illusion of the room vanished.

"Let's go finish the Temple."

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	18. End

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Good-Bye.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 018.

Prompt Number: 003.

Prompt Word: Endings.

Rating: PG.

Gerne: Romance/Angst.

Quote: "The end is never as satisfying as the journey." Anonymus.

Word Count: 320.

Notes: Few fics deal with the real good bye. I'd like to make my countribution.

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**Good-Bye.**

Sheik knows it will be the last time he sees him. The last time to touch him, to hear him laugh or yelp or scream. It'll be the last time to see him smile or frown or cry.

He knows, so he does something about it.

When they meet, he comes out of the temple, hair heavy with sand, eyes darkened ever so slightly. He's frustrated, and it shows. It melts away when he sees him, more so when Sheik embraces him.

Link doesn't know, can't possibly know, but he holds him back, soothing, welcoming.

Sheik knows he's supposed to teach him the song and leave, because that is how the Princess wishes it to be. So before he vanishes without trace, before they lie to him, he wants to hold him, just once.

After all, later, he will think it was her and not him. He won't know it was him, ever, so Sheik figures he can be a little selfish and take the small comfort to himself.

"It will end well," Link tells him, as if he could read his mind, but Sheik knows that things will not go well, at least not for him.

"It will end, that's what matters," He replies, head bowed as the Hero holds him, guiltily enjoying what he has no right to take.

The Princess will have him once the Spirit Temple is purged, what's a little hug before they meet again? Sheik smiles bitterly and pulls back, ready to be cold and untouchable once more. He has said his good bye, he can pretend once more.

"It will end well," Link sentences before he kisses him, taking him by surprise as he does so, "I'll make sure it does."

And for that fleeting instant, Sheik smiles, his collar down and his eyes dark, because suddenly the ending becomes a prologue, to what, he doesn't know, and honestly, he doesn't care.

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	19. Circle

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: Oroborus.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 019.

Prompt Number: 044.

Prompt Word: Circle.

Rating: PG.

Gerne: Romance/Angst.

Quote: "I could go back a hundred times and watch her die a hundred ways." The Time Machine Movie 2002.

Word Count: 284.

Notes: I was playing MM and had a slight flight of fancy. Also, I had a "Time Machine" paradox discussion with my self before writing this. I ask for forgiveness before hand. XD

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**Oroborus.**

He held Time in his hands. The Song of Fate and the Sword of Destiny, they weighted in his hands as he stood in the middle of a burning wasteland, watching as the dark forces fled, as the first survivors come out from hiding.

But despite appearances, Link was beginning to understand that he too was trapped within the flow of time.

Angrily, he played the song, as he played in the Moon-Doomed world, as he played when he was an adult in a time that was but shouldn't have been, as he played the night the Evil King escaped again.

The Goddesses, the Triforce, perhaps even his own anger, allowed him to return exactly at the point he wanted. He stood bewildered for a moment, not having expected it to actually work, but inmediately lunging forward, successfully blocking the first hit, but not the second.

Crying out in frustration, he played the song again, the notes echoing into the still on going fight, terrible in their power as they granted his wish again.

And again, and again and again.

If it wasn't a dagger, it was a stray arrow or a falling tree. Each new dead was worse than the one he prevented, but they were the same. Dead.

Death and Time cannot be changed, not really. And Link understood it finally.

He was trapped into the circle of Time, and for all his power, he was just as helpless as the rest. He could travel back and forth, he could learn of things he has done but hasn't done yet, he could save the world one and a thousand times, but he could not save the one he loved the most.

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	20. Lost

_(A/N) For my claim at drabble100 in LJ. Hope you enjoy it!_

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Title: At the End of the Tunnel.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Characters: Sheik, Link.

Drabble Number: 020.

Prompt Number: 083.

Prompt Word: Lost.

Rating: PG.

Gerne: Romance/Drama.

Quote: "Lost time is never found again." Proverb.

Word Count: 347.

Notes: Dunno what to say about this one, done purely out of whim. And yes, Link is slightly more whimp-ish that usual. C'mon people, he's still ten at heart.

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**At the End of the Tunnel.**

Lost. He was lost.

He barely understood what he was being told, the importance of what was happening around him. All that mattered was that he was lost.

Seven years, the whole world spin around him. Seven years, and he was away, sleep. Seven years, and his body was all wrong fitted for him. He was an stranger in his own skin. His legs were too long and his chest too wide and his hands were too rough and... and...he just _was_.

Suddenly he was enveloped in that same blue light, soothing but not, falling gently before the Triad damned pedestal he shouldn't have ever touched in the first place.

He missed the comforting weight of the Kokiri Sword, the wildness scent of his Deku Shield. The Master Sword felt like responsibility made into steel and the Hylian Shield fit him far too well, eerily so.

He wasn't even going to start wondering _why_ he had grown. Maybe because he disobeyed the Forest Law and ran away from it. Maybe because the Deku Tree gave him the Forest Stone. Maybe because he had angered the Gods and touched the thrice damned Sword.

And then He was there. Shadowy and welcoming and stirring something new into his chest. With a velvety voice that explained things the Sage of Light hadn't been clear enough to say, the Sheikah became his guide. Red eyes that changed light to show his feelings, where he quickly learn to read a smile or a smirk. With deft hands that fit him well and which were talented to what they did.

The fluttering inside his chest never stopped, rather, it grew every time He came close to him.

He was still lost. He never quite understood why he did all he did, why he fought monsters and helped others. He just knew it was the right thing and that it made whatever burden He carried lighter.

Lost. So terribly lost, but at least now he had a guide to follow, a light at the end of the tunnel.

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	21. Blind

**Title:** Lead Me On.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 021.  
**Prompt Number:** 081.  
**Prompt Word:** Blind.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Drama.  
**Quote: **"There's none so blind as they that won't see." Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Irish-born English satirist.  
**Word Count:** 465.  
**Notes:** There are worst fates than death. I made this little exercise with my class last Monday, needless to say, it showed interesting results.

**Lead Me On.**

It had been a horrible explosion, Link certainly remembered the screams and the howls of despair as the bazaar bursted into flames. But a bright light was all that he could remember seeing before his world had been plunged into darkness.

The healers had said it was a temporal condition and with a bit of treatment, he would recover his eyesight easily. Sheik and Zelda tried to keep him calm and assured him constantly he would get well.

Link didn't need reassurance, for some reason, he found he _liked_ being blind.

When his senses weren't being bombed around by bright colors and shapes, he could put his ears to work and catch the most unusual sounds around. Scents that crawled up from the market enveloped him and his room in ways they had never been able to before. He began paying attention to the texture of things, how rough his Kokiri tunic was, but how smooth Sheik's hair felt between his fingers.

He began a small game to pass the time, weaving stories about the world around him, who was hitting wood down at the market and why, who was cooking meat and for whom.

Deep into his world of darkness, he began wandering around the castle, eyes closed behind the bandages, hands resting lightly on the stone walls. They had been worried at first, but the fact he couldn't see didn't mean he was clumsy, or more so than usual. Going slowly, he soon memorized the fifteen steps between his room and Zelda's, or the fifty steps needed to climb up to the highest tower. It was like seeing the world again, finding things no one bothered to notice.

But if there was one thing he liked the best from being sick, was the fact Sheik began guiding him in his night strolls in the gardens. He would grab his arm gently and allow the Sheikah to lead him around, listening to his quiet voice as he told him about the world he couldn't see. Behind his healing eyelids, he could imagine what he was told. Zelda arguing over with Ruto. Nabooru trying, _again_, to best Impa in hand to hand combat. The capitan of the guard falling into the moat. Malon coming over to see Epona.

Thirty days later, as promised, the healers removed the white rags that covered his eyes, and Link blinked as the world came back to focus.

He smiled pleasantly as the others cheered and congratulated him in a quick recovery, but only Sheik saw him pocket the discarded bandages. The Sheikah smiled at him, eyes glinting with amusement.

"Are we going down tonight?" Sheik smiled as the rest of the improvised party left their room, eyes knowing.

Link laughed as he grinned.

"Lead me on." 


	22. Winter

**Title:** Blizzard.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 022.  
**Prompt Number:** 061.  
**Prompt Word:** Winter.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"Winter shan't be so harsh, if Love stays faithful by my side." Anonymus.  
**Word Count:** 318.  
**Notes:** Personally, nothing cheers me up more in a cold winter afternoon, than a nice cup of hot chocolate and interesting conversation.

**Blizzard.**

Link hated the cold. He could deal with burning heat and howling sandstorms, even the occasional thunderstorm. Cold, however, was something he liked to avoid, particularly after a few choice experiences in the Ice Cavern and Termina's Snowhead Mountain.

Sheik, unfortunately, had an unholy liking for cold weather.

Tracking him down after time had been restarted correctly by the Princess had been an interesting affair. Some strange worlds and several fights to save them later, Link found the Sheikah way up north Hyrule, secluded in a small village of Shadow People that preferred to keep to themselves. Getting there had been tricky enough, figure out what to say to his once lover, however, was more than just awkward. Link figured things had gone well, though, because he had been accepted into the small village and his relationship with Sheik, thought tentative at best, was growing steadily.

Except, of course, that as North as they were, winter tended to last months. Which meant there was a nice two feet of snow, daily, and cold winds that just froze to the bone, morning, noon and night.

Link _really_ hated the cold.

"Here," Jumping startled as a soft blanket was placed on his shoulders, Link looked up at Sheik, smiling faintly. The Sheikah blushed faintly as he looked away, "You're not used to cold weather, are you?"

"Not really, no," Shrugging, the Hero of Time looked out of the window, into the fierce blizzard outside.

"Ah," Sheik moved to sit next to him, at a certain distance, and offered him a mug of steaming chocolate, "Try that, it'll warm you up."

Link took a tentative sip, then smiled.

"'S good, what's in it?"

"You don't want to know," Sheik shrugged, "Trust me on that one."

Growing a bit more comfortable, they watched the weather outside, the silence welcome.

Link still didn't like the cold, but company certainly made it bearable. 


	23. Fixed

H**Title:** Good Intentions.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 023.  
**Prompt Number:** 072.  
**Prompt Word:** Fixed.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"Deficiency motivation doesn't work. It will lead to a life-long pursuit of try to fix me. Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are." Wayne Dyer (1940-?) American psychotherapist, author and lecturer.  
**Word Count:** 499.  
**Notes:** People are annoying when they try to fix what it's not broken. Remember the road to hell?

**Good Intentions.**

They are nice people, but he hates them anyway.

Poor lonely Sheikah boy. Alone in the world. His aunt is gone now. Half starved and severely injured.

He wished he were strong enough to keep them away. He wish aunt Impa was around still. He wished the camp hadn't been destroyed. He wish he could leave.

Above all, the young boy wished to have a name.

His family was dead. His clan extinct. He had no name anymore.

Sheikah, the Hunters, wrongly translated into the Shadows by the Hylian, lived in tight family rings scattered throughout the land. They had no given name, but rather an attribute that characterized them and gave them individuality. He couldn't tell the people of town his name, simply because he had none. Only another Sheikah would name him or someone related to the Sheikah, but all that remained of his clan was his aunt, and she had been gone for so long...

He's not weak anymore, but they don't let him help around much. He's small and looks feeble, and while for his tribe that were great attributes, Hylians thought strength came first, agility and quick wit later. It frustrates him as he sees them try to go on with life, to know he could help if they only let him, but instead, he sits back in a crate and watches life move on.

One day, as he wanders between the houses, he hears somewhat a riot. Riots are not good, he knows, so he tenses and prepares to help. He hates the little village with its little simple people, because they aren't Sheikah and they don't understand and keep trying to fix what's not broken. But he's also Sheikah and he has his heart in the right place.

The big riot ends up being a boy of his age, wearing a strange set of green clothes and an upbeat fairy behind him. He smiles embarrassedly as he's greeted around and looks around almost as if he wanted to escape.

The boy can relate.

And suddenly, in a strange moment, their eyes meet between the crowd. Blood red to icy blue, and the Sheikah knows he will be given a new name soon. He smiles tentatively, watching shock wear off the young blond Hylian. And then he smiles too.

"Sheik! I thought I'd never find you!"

He laughs, not because he understands what the blond boy wants or means, but because the irony of his new name. Sheik. The Hunted. Still, he has the feeling he will use that name until the day he dies, and is content to leave with the boy.

Apparently he's a Hero of some sort. Sheik doesn't care, Link, that's his name, doesn't try to fix him because he knows he isn't broken. He knows he's Sheikah and he respects him to be so. He's got good intentions and Sheik finds he doesn't hate it.

Actually, Sheik begins to love him a little just for it.


	24. Spring

**Title:** Why Sheik Hates Spring.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 024.  
**Prompt Number:** 062.  
**Prompt Word:** Spring.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"Spring is not the best of seasons. Cold and flu are two good reasons; wind and rain and other sorrow, warm today and cold tomorrow. Whoever said Spring was romantic? The word that best applies is frantic!" Anonymus.  
**Word Count:** 434.  
**Notes:** If you're allergic to Spring, I send thee my condolences. Sheik says "to murder the damn flowers. Murder them dead!" XD

**Why Sheik Hates Spring.**

He was a patient man. How could he be not, given the circumstances? He was the appointed Guardian of the most Irresponsible and Tomboyish Queen Hyrule had ever seen. Not that they knew they had an irresponsible and tomboyish Queen. If they found out, there would be war, and let it be known that Sheik _hates_ war.

But he hates Spring more.

Oh, so much more.

He hates the half lidded eyes he sees _everywhere_ and the goddamn raise of roses and late night serenades around the castle and the town. He hates the exhausting job it is to deal with the _hundreds_ of letters that arrive to the castle, directed at the Princess or the Hero... and occasionally in a frighteningly and scarring experience, to him.

Sheik actually _liked_ sunsets, until his eyes were compared to them.

_"The lustful fire that threads behind them, just like the last breath of a dying sun, scorch me, scorch me, I tell you, for without at least one last look at the flaming depths, my soul shall not find rest again."  
_  
Zelda had bursted out laughing when she heard the letter. Then proceeded to steal it and show it off to whoever stood still for five seconds. Which included, much to his embarrassment, Impa. He couldn't quite look at her ever since, at least not without feeling she was silently laughing her ass off at him. But no, Impa had not been the worst.

Link had been.

Even now, after all the time it had passed, the Hero of Time occasionally pulled a joke regarding the old love letter, asking his lover if he would want to go and _'let the smoldering fires in his eyes consume them both_._"_

Link generally ended up with a dagger or two to his neck in those occasions, too.

No, but that wasn't what Sheik hated in Spring. They irritated him and gave Link reason to mock him, but what really made him miserable for three months... the allergies were.

Specially since Zelda saw to it that all the castle was filled with all type of annoying flowers at full bloom. The damn pollen dust got stuck in his sinuses and it left him red eyed and volatile.

Link didn't help matters along.

**AAAAACHOOO.  
**  
"Here Sheik," The Hero of Time offered him a handkerchief, patting his shoulder with mock sympathy while his damned eyes _twinkled,_ "It's quite alright."

"I gnate ngou."

Stuffed sinuses meant he couldn't speak quite well.

Link grinned.

"I know."

And then he ran as fast as he could from the murderous Sheikah. 


	25. Sunrise

**Title:** Mornings.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 025.  
**Prompt Number:** 031.  
**Prompt Word:** Sunrise.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Humor.  
**Quote: **"Never get between a chimera and his coffee." Zelgadiss Greywords from the anime "Slayers."  
**Word Count:** 329.  
**Notes:** Caffeine. God's gift to man... and Hylians.

**Mornings.**

Link wasn't a morning person. In fact, if ever given the chance, he would certainly prove to be even more lazy than Talon.

Link just didn't understand Sheik's quirk of being up at dawn. Sure, sunrise was pretty with all those colors that kinda reminded him of Sheik's eyes and the fresh morning dew... but one could hardly appreciate the beauty of nature when you're too asleep to notice you're munching on your own hat and not on breakfast.

Link knew, he did so on a daily basis.

No, Link was not a morning person at all. Sheik, for whatever unholy reason, thought differently.

"Cheer up, Link," The Sheikah smiled with amusement at his companion's disgruntled attitude, "Look at that, isn't it beautiful?"

He pointed to the sun raising over the line of the forest, lining the trees golden for a moment as the sky turned red.

"The only beauty I know of right now is my bed."

"Oh please," Sheik snorted, beginning to prepare their little breakfast, a large pot of water already boiling, "What kind of disposition is that?"

Link made a strange gagging sound.

"I'll have all the sunny and bright disposition of a starving re-dead until I'm given caffeine," He glared darkly at his companion, "In large quantities."

"You know, re-deads are dead," Sheik arched an eyebrow teasingly, "So technically speaking, you can't starve them."

"Serve the coffee, Sheikah," Link's pupils slitted in his sleep and caffeine deprived eyes, "And you might survive to see lunch."

Laughing in amusement at the by now familiar threat on his person, the Sheikah complied none the less and watched with certain morbid fascination as the Hero of Time gulped down four cups of coffee before acting somewhat soberly.

"Hey Link, maybe we should-"

"I'm having a near orgasmic experience with my coffee. Bug me and _die_."

Blinking, the Sheikah snorted and finished his own breakfast.

In the distance, the sun continued to silently raise over the horizon. 


	26. Sunset

**Title:** I'll wait for him.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 026.  
**Prompt Number:** 032.  
**Prompt Word:** Sunset.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"And for seven long years i'll wait for him/On the banks of the moorlough shore" "Moorlough Shore" by Caroline Lavelle.  
**Word Count:** 334.  
**Notes:** For once, it's Link is the one waiting seven years. 

**I'll wait for him.  
**  
It was a day like today. The sun was dying, pitifully slowly as it sank in the distance, casting its last rays on upon us as we whispered the last goodbye.

It's a silly thing, but on days like this, when the sun is dying and the breeze is gentle, I can almost listen to him in the distance. I remember the way the breeze messed his hair, how his eyes flashed crimson as he looked at me one last time.

Many people would have stopped waiting by now. Many people would have moved on after the first winter. I won't.

Zelda smiles and respects me, but I can see a sort of pity behind her eyes. She thinks I should give up and go on with my life. Most people I know think that way. Don't ask me how I know, I can feel it and I hate it.

Impa doesn't pity me. She's Sheikah and she knows the journey Sheik embarked himself into is important. She knows what it means, and she knows I know what it means.

She often tells me, when no one else around and in that soft spoken voice of hers, that she admires my devotion. No other Hylian would be so devoted to such a cruel tradition of a race that's essentially gone.

"When he comes back," She tells me, every time I'm feeling a bit depressed or lonely, "It'll be your turn to listen to the stories, instead of retelling them."

When he comes back. She doesn't doubt he will, and neither do I. Because if Sheik is gone, is to prove he loves me. And to honor that love, the love he feels for me and the love I feel for him, I will wait for him. For another seven years if needed.

The sun sets in the distance, as it did yesterday and as it will do tomorrow. I sit here, like I did yesterday, like I will do tomorrow.


	27. Summer

**Title:** Lazy Days.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 027.  
**Prompt Number:** 063.  
**Prompt Word:** Summer.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." Henry James (1843-1916) American author.  
**Word Count:** 317.  
**Notes:** Summer is the time of laziness. Even Heros can afford it. Sometimes.

**Lazy Days.**

It was too hot outside to do much, other than sweat like a pig. Sheik had frowned and twitched his nose slightly at the expression, but the flush in his body had been agreement enough. They called in a day.

They spend the morning on the grass, watching the sun go up from under a canopy of trees, branches and flowers. The forest smelled of wildness, but it was inviting and cool and they enjoyed it.

By lunch, they ate quietly near a small lagoon, watching the rainbow reflecting in certain angles, grateful for the constant shade of an ancient tree. They shared a long silence and a few stories, but for the most part, they tried to ignore the heat, the sweat and concentrate on the beauty around them.

By sunset, Sheik found himself deep into the water. Not sure how or why or when, but convinced Link would _pay_ for it.

The lazy atmosphere evaporated under the strain of their mock fight, of water and a few spells, playful and almost innocent, as they laughed in a way they hadn't been able to since they had embarked in the ridiculous task the Princess had set out for them.

"Sheik?" Link looked at his companion uncertainly, brow furrowed as if he had just solved the hardest puzzle in the world, "I think I-"

"I know," The Sheikah smiled knowingly, with that insuferable glint in his eyes as he turned to his companion.

"So..." Link didn't bother to question him, he knew better already.

"Let's leave this conversation to a less... lazy day," The Hero surrendered easily into the offered embrace, "Leave it for a depressing autumn morning or a chilly winter night. Not today."

"Not today."

"No," There was a moan, and the Sheikah grinned, "Not today. Today I'm enjoying my summer afternoon and it is really too much of a lazy day." 


	28. Touch

**Title:** Kohelet.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 028.  
**Prompt Number:** 038.  
**Prompt Word:** Touch.  
**Rating:** PG-13.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find what ultimate exile?" Albert Camus (1913-1960) French novelist, essayist and dramatist.  
**Word Count:** 458.  
**Notes:** To me, a sacrifice is not always giving up on something you have, but rather refrain from taking something you desire. Inspired by a beautiful drawing made by nkaoede. Kohelet means the profet, the one that preaches, it's taken from the Bible's Eclesiastes. Enjoy!

**Kohelet.  
**  
He rarely protests about what it's demanded of him, he know it's his duty as a hero, the responsibility he accepted by pulling out the Master Sword from its slumbering in the Pedestal. He does not complain, but he bites his lips until they bleed and clenches his hands at his sides, tightly, so tightly five red crescent marks adorn each. He doesn't allow anyone to see it, of course, because he's their hero and heroes are not bitter and disappointed with life.

Heroes do not fret about their clothes.

He doesn't mind them, even if they are too dark for his tastes, but he does miss the comforting scent of wildness in his tunics, the stories they carry in every thread. Sheik never asks, either, though he is pretty sure he knows something is wrong.

Sheik never asks, never questions, he merely obeys.

He comes looking for him before the crack of dawn, sliding into his tent like a shadow, shaking him awake and keeping him silent. Sheik slides his hands over his skin without a thought, helping him into the constricting yet freeing clothing, his pale skin disappearing upon the layers of black and red and blue. He helps him bandage his fingers, gently but without tenderness, merely following along an order. Sheik's eyes never linger more than they need to on him, his fingers never touch him more than necessary, yet he is starved by those precious seconds when the delicate fingers trace his skin, when he can stare openly at the red eyes of his companion, if only for the time it takes for the spell to set in.

Afterwards, they walk silently to the river, to drink something and wait for the others to wake. He no longer looks into the clear waters, because he does not recognize who he sees there, clad in black with dark red eyes, so much like the thrice damned shadow, but still himself.

Sheik doesn't say a thing, merely waits for the leader of the tribe to come and fetch them, and he is thankful, for his Sheikah companion allows him this little time to retain his identity. As soon as the white haired man comes around, he'll stop being Hylian, Hero and Link.

"Kohelet!" The rough voice calls, and Sheik pretends not to see him flinch at the name, "Come, you too Sheik, it's time."

Sheik never touches more than strictly necessary, never looks at him more than he should, and Link knows it must be so. He wonders if saving Hyrule once more is worth the sacrifice of this torture every morning, of having what he desires the most at arms reach, maybe less, and still dare not to touch him. Never touch him. 


	29. Shapes

**Title:** Dawn.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 029.  
**Prompt Number:** 041.  
**Prompt Word:** Shapes.  
**Rating:** NC-17.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"I love the taste of your lips, the light in your eyes. I love you even when I see your shape against the shoji screen." Kuware Izumi, from "Plays of Light" by Dark-Star, occationally my lover, occationally my stalker and just a general annoyance.  
**Word Count:** 155.  
**Notes:** This is for the Malon/Link fans. Because I'm cruel like that.

**Dawn.  
**  
It was early, always so early. When the sky is a royal purple and the cuccos were ruffling their feathers in their sleep, already feeling the pull of daylight. Malon would walk silently downstairs and out of the house, going to stand against the fence of the horse corral. Her eyes would set on the wall of the stables, dark and thin at the same time, and watch the shadows playing as the oil lantern burst to life. She would stand there, resting her weight against the wood, arms tightly around her as she'd watch them move.

Seeing Him and him coming closer, shadows twisting, feeling. Moving in ways she understood beyond knowledge and straight by instinct. She saw, she wished, she hated, but she kept silent and pretended to be going to the tower whenever they came out.

Malon saw the shapes at dawn, and knew it was all she would ever have. 


	30. Found

**Title:** Forest Lights.  
**Fandom: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  
**Characters:** Sheik, Link.  
**Drabble Number:** 030.  
**Prompt Number:** 084.  
**Prompt Word:** Found.  
**Rating:** PG.  
**Genre:** Romance.  
**Quote: **"What ever our wandering our happiness will always be found within a narrow compass, and in the middle of the objects more immediately within our reach." Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) British politician, poet and critic.  
**Word Count:** 324.  
**Notes:** I'm a woman on a crusade... I'm finding visual art to get the jumble of ideas for the drabbles in proper order, my first victim? nk aoede, this is for her pic, "Lonely Wait".

**Forest Lights.**

His clothes were still damp from the little fall into the pound, hair plastered to his forehead and back aching slightly. But Link didn't care, because he was much more interested in who was sitting on the tree, in a half hearted attempt to remain hidden. He couldn't help it, he grinned that stupidly goody two shoes grin and let his shoulders drop. He had spent the last years mulling over how his first meeting with the Sheikah would go, what he would say, how he would move.

Sheik arched an eyebrow at him, eyes bright and mask in place.

"Yes?" Came the soft voice, as the red eyed man looked down at the strangely grinning Hylian.

Link forgot what he was about to say, not to mention how to breath.

The forest spirits began glowing as the light from the sun died, buzzing around the Sheikah and giving him the appereance of something out of a dream. Out of Link's dreams, of course. Silence stretched as the Hero practically drank in the details, the play of light on pale skin, the penetrating look in the red eyes, everything... Sheik shifted on his perch, slightly uncomfortable. It was a feat a Hylian had dared to enter the forest and not gotten lost, even more so that he had found him. He also noticed, distantly, that the blonde was wearing Kokiri garb, but he was too lulled by the blue eyes to make more of it. The way the Hylian looked at him, as if he was familiar and dear... as if he was welcomed.

Sheik hadn't felt welcome ever since their old camp was lost in the great blizzard.

"Just..." Link coughed slightly, blushing faintly and trying to recover whatever dignity he still had after staring at the Sheikah. His smile turned gentle, truly filled with genuine content, "I found you."

And Sheik wondered why those words meant so much for him. 


End file.
